Part off a readers digest series

Mary wants so badly to go back home. She dreams about seeing her grandmother again. Her life has changed to much to do that though. At least that is what she thinks. Mary knows that the life she has been living isn't right and that she needs to get away before something bad happens to her. So one night she escapes taking with her a stash of money she knows will be missed pretty quickly. She gets on a bus and heads away from her past. When she fell asleep on the bus someone stole the money. Mary gets as far away as her money will take her.

Through prayerful intervention she winds up as the nanny for three very needy children. Their father is a minister who lost his wife a couple of years previously. She has no idea the affect she will have on this family. She wants so badly to help this family but is also desperate to keep her past a secret. She even started using her mothers name and changed her hair to try and hide who she really is.

I really like this story. Through the pages of the story you grow to care for the children and the struggles of the father and his youngest sisters. The past has a hold on this family and they don't even realize it. It is a story filled with warmth and hope. A story of faith. Very well written.

My rating system is for me and others- if you understand my rating system.

1 star- book was so bad I couldn’t even get into it (because why would anyone actually finish a one star or 2 star book? Life is too short)

2 stars- Book was good enough I made it to the halfway point but then lost interest

3 stars- I finished the book, but only because I wanted to find out what happened and was not necessarily enjoying the ride.

4 stars- I finished and enjoyed the book.

5 stars- I finished the book and really felt something. The book impacted my life in some real way, or changed my perspective and/or motivated me to do or change something in my life.


Beginning was good, got really boring fast for me. I’m sure it will get better I just don’t have the patience with a slow and boring start and too many characters I can’t keep straight who is who and not building connections with them fast enough.

Got boring when the whole book shifted to what felt like another book that I didn’t care about. Got confusing too with the later and all kinds of new characters I didn’t like.

If you've ever felt at the end of your rope, hopeless, lost, alone, that God could never forgive you for what you've done or become, this is the book for you. Or if you just like books with real depth and well-rounded characters. This is a great read.
Linda Nichols always manages to take us into the true hearts of people; behind their facades, the walls they put up, and the faces they show the world. "Not a Sparrow Falls" is the journey of a young woman running from the law and her meth-abusing boyfriend, wishing she could turn back time to the girl she once was. With nothing left to lose but her life, she finds that God isn't through with her yet. She begins working as housekeeper and nanny to a widowed Pastor and his children and find that she's not the only one with secrets or a heart crying out for God's forgiveness and peace.